Britain's first live-in school for fat pupils

Britain's finest boarding school exclusively for overweight and obese teenagers is to open in the Lake District. It will take children aged 11 to 18 who are at least 9kg (20lb) too heavy and have had diet problems for more than a year.

As well as being taught the national curriculum, pupils will learn food science and weight management. They will be encouraged to take part in intensive physical activity and consume just 1,500 calories and 12g of fat per day.

The school will open in three years and will be run by the American company Wellspring Academies. Founded in 2002, Wellspring already runs two specialist boarding schools in the United States, attended by 20 British pupils.

If the Lake District school is successful, there are plans to open more across Britain. Wellspring UK, the organisation's British arm, already runs 'fat camps' at Lake Windermere for overweight and obese teenagers .

Ryan Craig, president of Wellspring and an adviser to the US Department of Education, said the company was surprised by the extent of childhood obesity in Britain, as well as levels of interest in the school from parents and children.

'We engage students and drive home the learning with real-world experiences. Students receive training in ordering in restaurants, and then we go out for lunch or dinner to see how we do. Students also receive hands-on training in grocery stores.'

Britain has seen a dramatic increase in childhood obesity, leaving the government struggling to meet its target of halting the rise among under-11s by 2010.

Almost one child in seven aged between two and 10 is obese, an increase of a third in a decade. If nothing is done, the proportion of obese under-16s is predicted to reach 20 per cent by 2010.

However, experts have questioned the need for specialist boarding schools and say there have been no studies into the long-term results.

'I certainly don't think this should be promoted as a good response to weight management,' said Dr Russell Viner, an associate professor at University College Hospital's Institute of Child Health in London, who runs a weight management programme for young people.

'While the young people learn to control their weight in the entirely unnatural environment of a boarding school, they do not learn how to maintain their weight once they return to the normal world.' Helping young people control their weight in a family setting was more likely to produce long-term results.

Melvyn Roffe, chair of the Boarding Schools' Association, which represents 550 state and independent boarding schools in Britain, is also sceptical. 'We would encourage educating children about a healthy lifestyle in a mainstream setting rather than a school designed specifically for those with a problem.'

Other experts welcomed the idea. Tam Fry, a spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said: 'A specialised boarding school could give children the confidence to deal with their weight loss by removing them from the stigmatisation often suffered by overweight youngsters in mainstream education.'

Wellspring UK already claims success for its summer 'fat camp'. This year 70 young people aged between 10 and 19 are attending the four to eight-week residential courses, which cost up to £6,500.

Ian Carter, the UK programme director, said the average student last summer lost more than 4.5kg (10lb) a week.

'A number of students lost nearly 100lb [45kg] during the course and more than 70 per cent of participants had maintained or continued their weight loss nine months after returning home.'

One student, Kristi Moffat, 16, who weighs 101kg (224lb), said: 'If you'd told me not just that I'd be walking around the countryside, but that I'd be enjoying it, too, I would have laughed in your face - then probably gone away somewhere and cried. I have been embarrassed about my weight for as long as I can remember and am too paranoid about people looking at me to do exercise or ever think I can be good at anything.'

The camps have been criticised for their emphasis on an extremely low fat diet. Susan Borgman, clinical director of the British camp, said the camp was intense, but it worked.

'Our fat camp programme is harsh: it's 1,200 calories a day with only 12g of fat allowed, and that's a tough regime. But part of the reason we're so committed to this extreme approach is that this is an extreme situation. Some of these children have the weight of an entire other person to lose. They are long past the time for moderation.'

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